Collection Overview
Title: William Eleazar Barton Papers, 1885-1976
Predominant Dates:1895–1925
ID: RG 09/9.04
Creator: Barton, William Eleazar -- 1861-1930
Extent: 27.0 Boxes (General)
Arrangement: This collection is divided into eight series: Biographical, Writings, Advance, Lincoln, Correspondence, Photographs, Genealogical, and Helen Crocker. Arrangement within each series is largely chronological except where noted.
Languages: English [eng]
Abstract
William E. Barton attended Berea College from 1880 to 1885 (B.S.) and married Esther Treat Bushnell—a Berea elementary teacher—upon graduation from college. Barton was a circuit pastor in Robbins, Tennessee, until 1887. From 1887 through 1890 Barton was a pastor in Litchfield, Ohio, while taking courses at Oberlin Theological School. Upon graduation from Oberlin (M.A.), Barton pastored at Wellington, Ohio, and Boston’s Shawmut Congregational Church. From 1899 until 1924, Barton was the pastor at Chicago’s First Congregational Church in Oak Park.
From 1904-1917 Barton was the editor of The Advance, a Congregationalist magazine. Among many Congregationalist activities Barton was a delegate to the National Council from 1893 to1930, and moderator of that body from 1921 to 1923. For thirty years Barton was a Berea College trustee during which time he advised Berea College on the Day Law legal suit (1904-1908). Barton also spent much time researching the life of Abraham Lincoln’s and became a foremost authority in the field.
In 1925, Barton began a trip around the world, unfortunately cut short by his wife’s sudden illness and death later the same year. In 1928 Barton founded Collegeside Church where he served as pastor until his until his death in 1930 at the age of 69.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
This collection reflects W. E. Barton’s life and work as a Berea College graduate and trustee, as a Congregationalist pastor and author, and, in a limited way, as a Lincoln scholar.
Administrative Information
Accruals:
Although large portions of the material in this collection are primary sources collected from the Barton family, a significant portion in this collection are copies from other research and archival institutions. The originals of these copied materials remain at those various institutions. The bulk of this collection originated with Helen Crocker, a professor at Western Kentucky University. Her research (1980-1986) gathered material from the Barton family and archival institutions, and was intended for a biography of William E. Barton, though that book was never written. The material was then given to Marion Lucas, another professor at Western Kentucky University researching John G. Fee. In August of 2000, Marion Lucas gave the collection to Berea College. The small portion of the collection not inherited from Helen Crocker and Marion Lucas has been collected by Berea College librarians.
Access Restrictions:
Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.
Use Restrictions:
Series 4 contains four rolls of microfilm from the University of Chicago Library. The microfilm contains Barton’s Lincoln research correspondence (1920-1922), research notes (including affidavits and maps), and few Lincoln manuscripts and addresses. RESTRICTION: Microfilm or information from microfilm may not be reproduced without permission of the Director of the University of Chicago Library.
Federal copyright regulations apply to all other works within the collection. All works must be cited.
Related Materials:
Berea College Records RG 9.03: Bruce Barton Collection
Preferred Citation:
[Object identification], William Barton Papers, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, KY.
Processing Information:
The collection was open for research in 2001.
Arranged and described by Andrew D. Franklin, completed September 2001. Finding aid updated in 2016.
Box and Folder Listing
- College Archive Record Group 9.04

- Series 1: Biographical

- Box 1

- Folder 1: Biographical Articles [N.D.]

- Folder 2: Biographical Articles 1883, 1893, 1896 - 1907, 1915

- Folder 3: Biographical Articles 1918 - 1930

- Folder 4: Biographical Articles 1930 - 1934; 1937

- Folder 5: Biographical Articles 1947, 1949, 1955, 1958

- Folder 6: Biographical Articles 1961, 1964, 1976

- Folder 7: Autobiographical, W.E. Barton

- Folder 8: Autobiographical Articles, Series in Christian Herald Oct 1931 - Mar 1932

- Folder 9: Autobiographical Articles, notes from autobiography (published 1932)

- Folder 10: Berea

- Folder 11: Last Will and Testament (1929)

- Folder 12: Collected Clippings by Barton

- Series 2: Writings

- Box 2

- Folder 1: 1893 - 1899 Pastor’s Register /Scrapbook - Shawmut Congregational Church

- Folder 2: 1886/87 - 1892 Pastor’s Register /Scrapbook - Church in Robbins, Tennessee

- Folder 3: 1899 - 1906 Pastor’s Register/Scrapbook with list of sermons preached

- Box 3

- Folder 1: Pastor’s Register /Scrapbook, 1907 - 1912

- with list of sermons preached
- Folder 2: Pastor’s Register /Scrapbook, 1920 - 1924

- with list of sermons preached
- Folder 3: Scrapbook, 1896

- Sermons published in The Treasury
- Folder 4: Scrapbook, 1897 - 1903

- Outlines and Press Reports of Occasional Addresses
- Folder 5: 1899 - 1902 Scrapbook - Sermons and Articles from Youth

- Folder 6: Scrapbook, 1905

- The Land and the Book: A Series of Illustrated Talks on the Land and the Bible
- Box 4

- Folder 1: [N. D.] Scrapbook of Quotes and prose collected by Barton

- Folder 2: 1913 - 1917 Scrapbook of poetry collected by Barton

- Folder 3: 1900 - 1906 Scrapbook - Religious Editorials From Youth

- Folder 4: 1908 - 1913 Scrapbook - Religious Editorials From Youth

- Folder 5: 1911 - 1912 Scrapbook - Sermons Published

- Folder 6: 1915 - 1916 Scrapbook - Sermons Published

- Folder 7: 1917 - 1918 Scrapbook - Sermons Published

- Box 5

- Folder 1: 1893 - 1899 Scrapbook - Congregational Club

- Folder 2: 1899 - 1924 Scrapbook A Book of Remembrance for Barton

- Folder 3: 1916 - 1918 Scrapbook Safed the Sage

- Folder 4: 1919 - 1920 Scrapbook Safed the Sage

- Folder 5: 1922 - 1926 Scrapbook Safed the Sage

- Box 6

- Folder 1: Scrapbook of Travel Article on Robert Burns

- Folder 2: Notebook - Natural Theology, 1887 - 1888

- [class taught by Berea College President James Fairchild]
- Folder 3: 1890 - Notebook - Church of Rome Opposed to Protestantism

- Folder 4: 1896 - 1908 Church Account Book

- Folder 5: 1894 - 1904 Church Account Book

- Folder 6: 1909 - Scrapbook - list of books on art

- Folder 7: 1922 - Scrapbook - Eugene Field Remembrance

- Folder 8: 1922 - Scrapbook - History of the Filson Club 1884 - 1922

- Folder 9: 1922 - Family Guest Book for July and August

- Box 7

- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1892 - 1895

- Wellington, Ohio and Shawmut (Boston) Pastorates
- Box 8

- Folder 1: Photograph - Events [N.D.]

- Folder 2: Photograph - Groups and Organizations [N.D.]

- Folder 3: Printed Material - Haverhill Whittier Club Certificate 1900

- Item 1: Diary - 1881 - 1882

- Item 2: Diary - 1882- 1885 with transcript

- Box 9: NO BOX 9

- Box 10

- Item 1: Diary - 1916

- Item 2: Diary - 1917

- Box 11

- Item 1: Diary - 1918

- Item 2: Diary - 1919

- Box 12

- Item 1: Diary - 1920

- Item 2: Diary - 1921

- Box 13

- Item 1: Diary - 1923

- Item 2: Diary - 1924

- Item 3: Diary - 1925, 1926

- Item 4: Diary - 1927

- Box 14

- Item 1: Diary - 1929

- Item 2: Travel Diary - 1909

- Item 3: Travel Diary - 1925

- Item 4: Travel Diary - 1929

- Box 15

- Folder 1: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses [N.D.]

- Folder 2: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1883

- Folder 3: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1892

- Folder 4: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1892 - 1894

- Folder 5: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1895 - 1899

- Folder 6: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1900 - 1902

- Folder 7: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1903 - 1907

- Folder 8: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1908 - 1910

- Folder 9: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1911 - 1914

- Folder 10: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1916 - 1920

- Folder 11: Sermons, Articles, and Addresses 1921 - 1927

- Folder 12: Parables of Safed the Sage - Manuscript and Notes

- Folder 13: Parables of Safed the Sage Article Clippings and Published excerpts

- Folder 14: Religious Music and Hymns

- Folder 15: Congregational Creeds and Printed Material

- Folder 16: Congregational Writings 1897 - 1910

- Folder 17: Congregational Writings 1913 - 1917

- Box 16

- Folder 1: Barton Pamphlets [N.D.]

- Item 1: How We Ought to Think of God

- Item 2: Bodily Healing

- Item 3: The Chronology of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel

- Item 4: Sermon: The Ladder and the House

- Item 5: The Christ in Modern Art: An Illustrated Lecture

- Item 6: The Penitents of New Mexico

- Folder 2: Barton Pamphlets 1890 -1903

- Item 1: Early Ecclesiastical History of the Western Reserve, 1890

- Papers of the Ohio Church History Society Vol. I: Reports and Papers of the First Annual Meeting held at Ashtabula, Ohio, May 6th 1890. Frank Hugh Foster PH.D ed.
- Item 2: 1892 - A History of the First Congregational Church of Wellington Ohio

- Item 3: Annual Reports of the First Congregational Church of Wellington Ohio, 1892

- Item 4: 1894 - Address of Rev William E. Barton

- 43rd Anniversary of the Boston Young Men
- Item 5: 1894 - Cosmic Redemption from Treasury

- Item 6: 1895 - Flesh and Spirit

- Item 7: 1897 - Congregationalism in Boston and Vicinity

- Item 8: 1897 - Shawmut Bible Studies: Outline Analysis of the Book of Genesis

- Item 9: What has Brought Us Out of Egypt? , 1900

- A Sermon on the Relations of the Material and the Spiritual in Human Progress
- Item 10: 1901 - Faith as Related to Health

- Item 11: 1902 - The Continuous Creation

- Item 12: 1902 - The Gospel of the Autumn Leaf

- Item 13: 1903 - The Sumerian Pentateuch

- Folder 3: Barton Pamphlets 1904 - 1927

- Item 1: 1904 - Can a Man be Converted After he is Twenty-Three?

- Item 2: 1904 - How Old Art Thou?

- Item 3: 1905 - The Conquest of the risen Christ

- Item 4: 1907 - The Brook By Road side

- Item 5: 1907 - The End of the Road

- Item 6: 1907 - The Minister and Women

- Item 7: 1907 - The Perils of Progress

- Item 8: Art and Life: The Mission of a Fine Art Society in a Suburban Community, 1909

- Item 9: Acorns From an Oak Park Pulpit: The World to Come and the Divine Deposit, 1910

- (two sermons)
- Item 10: 1911 - All the Years of Thy Life

- Item 11: 1913 - The Lost Christ

- Item 12: 1914 - Before Winter

- Item 13: 1914 - Righteousness and Immortality: An Easter Sermon

- Item 14: 1917 - Our Fight for the Heritage of Humanity

- Item 15: 1918 - The Constructive Problems of World Democracy

- Item 16: 1918 - The Moral Meaning of the World War

- Item 17: The Praise of the Wrath of Man and The Rebuilding of the World: Two Sermons, 1918

- Item 18: 1920 - George Washington: An Address

- Item 19: 1920 - Theodore Roosevelt: An Address (signed)

- Item 20: 1923 - Congregationalism, Continental and Catholic

- Item 21: Medina Association, 1927

- The Enlargement from Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Session of the Medina Association of Congregational Churches and Ministers, pgs. 13-18.
- Folder 4: Congregationalist Pamphlets

- Item 1: 1924 - Dr. Barton’s Notable Pastorate by Rev. Robert W. Gannon D.D.

- Item 2: 1924 - A Tribute to Keturah by Grace M. Chapin

- Item 3: 1924 - The Close of a Distinguished Pastorate

- Item 4: A Book of Remembrance, 1924

- Commemorative of the Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Pastorate of the Reverend William E. Barton, D.D., LL.d. in the First Congregationalist Church of Oak Park
- Item 5: 1963 - Century of Promise: One Hundred Years of Christian Service, 1863 -1963 by Frank J. Platt

- Folder 5: Pamphlets - Berea and Southern Mountains

- Item 1: 1897 - The Cumberland Mountains and the Struggle for Freedom

- Item 2: 1899 - Berea College and the Cumberland Mountains Education Vol. xix, No. 6, Feb. 1899 pgs. 331-341

- Item 3: 1899 - Old Plantation Hymns Feb Berea Quarterly

- Item 4: 1899 - Old Plantation Hymns with Historical and Descriptive Notes

- Item 5: 1905 - Dr. Pearson’s Birthday Address by Barton

- Item 6: 1910 - Address of Dr. Daniel Kimball Pearsons at Berea College

- Item 7: Katherine Knapp and Esther Barton, 1926

- A Sketch prepared for the Dedication of the Esther Barton Room in Knapp Hall, Berea College
- Item 8: 1926 - Notes for Knapp and Barton Sketch

- Folder 6: Related Pamphlets

- Item 1: [N.D.] Finding God in Millersville: A Personal Experience [No Author]

- Item 2: 1902 - The Cruise of the S.S. Celtic: A brief Account of Her Trip to the Mediterranean and the Orient by J. W. Pettit, M.D.

- Item 3: 1923 - The Pathway of Peace: An Address by Honorable Charles E. Hughs, Secretary of State

- Item 4: 1926 - Address of the President of the United States and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget at the 11th Regular Meeting of the Business Organizations of Government

- Box 17

- Folder 1: Sermon and Theological Notes [N.D.]

- Folder 2: Sermon and Theological Notes 1891

- Folder 3: Sermon and Theological Notes 1893 - 1906, 1910, 1913

- Folder 4: Sermon and Theological Notes 1920 - 1930

- Folder 5: Sermon and Theological Notes Pamphlet [N.D]

- Folder 6: Sermon and Theological Notes Pamphlet 1901; 1908 - 1911

- Folder 7: Sermon and Theological Notes Pamphlet 1912 - 1920

- Folder 8: Miscellaneous Writings and Poetry

- Folder 9: Printed Materials - Announcements and Bulletins

- Folder 10: Printed Materials - Hymns, Poetry, and Prose

- Folder 11: Printed Materials - Personal

- Series 3: The Advance

- Box 18

- Folder 1: Articles [N.D.]; 1899-1908

- Folder 2: Articles 1908 - 1911

- Folder 3: Articles 1912 Apr - Dec

- Folder 4: Articles 1913 Jan - Apr

- Folder 5: Articles 1913 May - Aug

- Folder 6: Articles 1913 Sept - Dec

- Folder 7: Articles 1914 Jan - May

- Folder 8: Articles 1914 June - Sept

- Folder 9: Articles 1914 Oct - Dec

- Folder 10: Articles 1915 Jan - Apr

- Folder 11: Articles 1915 May - June

- Folder 12: Articles 1915 July - Sept

- Folder 13: Articles 1915 Oct - Dec

- Box 19

- Folder 1: Articles 1916 Jan - Feb

- Folder 2: Articles 1916 Mar - May

- Folder 3: Articles 1916 June - Sept

- Folder 4: Articles 1916 Oct - Dec

- Folder 5: Articles 1917 Jan - May

- Folder 6: Articles 1917 June - Sept

- Folder 7: Articles 1917 Oct - Nov

- Folder 8: Articles 1918

- Folder 9: Articles 1919

- Folder 10: Articles 1920

- Folder 11: Articles 1921 Jan - July

- Folder 12: Articles Feb 9, 1922; Mar 30, 1922; Apr 13, 1922

- Folder 13: Correspondence [N.D.], 1898 - 1919

- Folder 14: Business Notes 1887 - 1917

- Series 4: Lincoln

- Box 20

- Folder 1: Printed Materials

- Folder 2: Writings

- Folder 3: Scrapbook

- Folder 4: Bibliography of Lincoln Authors

- Folder 5: Writings on Lincoln by Robert Barton

- A Bibliography by Fred Barton
- Folder 6: Inventory of Barton

- Folder 7: Microfilm (Or Information From Microfilm)

- May Not Be Reproduced Without Permission Of The Director Of The University Of Chicago Library
- Item 1: Barton’s Research: Affidavits, Correspondence, and Maps (on Microfilm)

- Item 2: Address to Filson Club on Lincoln and His Women, manuscript of The Lincoln’s and Their Kentucky Home, also some correspondence on Barton’s Lincoln research on Microfilm

- Item 3: Lincoln’s Belief in Evolution manuscript; Lincoln research and publishing correspondence Apr 1920 - Dec 1922 (on Microfilm)

- Item 4: Lincoln research and publishing correspondence Dec 1922; on Microfilm

- Series 5: Correspondence

- Box 21

- Folder 1: Personal Correspondence [N.D.] and partial letters

- Folder 2: Personal Correspondence - 1885-1900

- Folder 3: Personal Correspondence - 1901-1910

- Folder 4: Personal Correspondence - 1911-1920

- Folder 5: Personal Correspondence - 1921-1930, 1940

- Folder 6: Congregational Correspondence - 1894-1907

- Folder 7: Congregational Correspondence - 1913-1930

- Folder 8: Publishing Correspondence - 1896, 1919-1929

- Box 22

- Folder 1: Trustee and College Correspondence [N.D.]

- Folder 2: Trustee and College Correspondence 1886-1900

- Folder 3: Trustee and College Correspondence 1901-1904

- Folder 4: Trustee and College Correspondence 1905-1913

- Folder 5: Trustee and College Correspondence 1920-1930

- Series 6: Photographs

- Box 22

- Folder 6: Barton Portraits

- Folder 7: Family

- Folder 8: Religious Events and Groups

- Folder 9: Lincoln

- Folder 10: Travel

- Folder 11: Related People and Places

- Series 7: Genealogical

- Box 23

- Folder 1: Writings: Lieutenant William Barton

- Folder 2: The Angel of the Battlefield: A Life of Clara Barton for American Youth

- Manuscript
- Folder 3: Notebook of Ancestral Record

- Folder 4: Genealogical Notes

- Folder 5: Genealogical Correspondence [N.D]

- Folder 6: Genealogical Correspondence 1891 - 1893

- Folder 7: Genealogical Correspondence 1894

- Folder 8: Genealogical Correspondence 1895 - 1900; 1913 - 1931

- Folder 9: The Barton Family of Oxford, Massachusetts Excerpts

- Folder 10: Writings: Esther Barton

- Item 1: Katherine Knapp and Esther Barton: A Sketch Prepared for the Dedication of the Esther Barton Room in Knapp Hall, Berea College 1926

- Item 2: Esther Barton: A Biographical Sketch 1926

- Folder 11: Jacob Barton

- Folder 12: Family Writings

- Folder 13: Ensign Eleazer Barton and his Descendants by Grace Barton McLaren and Ira L. McLaren

- Note: added 6 September 2011, original removed from BEREA Book Collection for preservation purposes, replaced by bound copy - JMB
- Series 8: Helen Crocker

- Box 24

- Folder 1: Notes on 3x5 Cards (18 sleeves A - H)

- Folder 2: Notes

- Folder 3: Correspondence

- Folder 4: Bibliographical Notes, Unknown Source

- Folder 5: Bibliographical Notes

- Folder 6: Printed Materials & Various Addresses

- Folder 7: Periodical Information

- Folder 8: Interview Notes

- Item 1: Interview Notes [N.D.]- Bob Barton

- Item 2: Interview Notes 3-18-1975- H. L. Sevins

- Item 3: Interview Notes 9-14-1976 - Julius Scott

- Item 4: Interview Notes 3-17-1977 - Swink

- Item 5: Interview Notes 8-14-1983-Ruth Burnell Perkins / Joan Stillwell (See Audio Tape Interview)

- Box 25

- Item 1: Audio Tape Interview 8-25-1980- L. A. Warren

- Item 2: Audio Tape Interview 8-25-1980- Gerald McMurtry

- Item 3: Audio Tape Interview 6-1-1981- James Hickey

- Item 4: Audio Tape Interview 6-2-1981 - James Hickey

- Item 5: Audio Tape Interview 6-2-1981- James Hickey

- Item 6: Audio Tape Interview 6-5-1981- Ralph Newman

- Item 7: Audio Tape Interview 6-5-1981- Ralph Newman

- Item 8: Audio Tape Interview 6-29-1981 - H. Tapp

- Item 9: Audio Tape Interview 6-30-1981- Mary Genevieve Murphy

- Item 10: Audio Tape Interview 8-25-1981- Gerald McMurtry

- Item 11: Audio Tape Interview 10-21-1981- Thomas D. Clark

- Item 12: Audio Tape Interview 10-21-1981- Thomas D. Clark

- Item 13: Audio Tape Interview 1-8-1982- Louise Maclead

- Item 14: Audio Tape Interview 1-4-1983- Molly Bryant

- Item 15: Audio Tape Interview 1-5-1983- Metzer Bryant

- Item 16: Audio Tape Interview 1-5-1983- Mary Bryant

- Item 17: Audio Tape Interview 1-6-1983- Louise Maclead

- Item 18: Audio Tape Interview 1-6-1983- Louise Maclead

- Item 19: Audio Tape Interview 8-3-1983- Edward Weeks

- Item 20: Audio Tape Interview 8-3-1983- Edward Weeks

- Item 21: Audio Tape Interview 8-14-1983- Ruth Burnell Perkins / Joan Stillwell

- (See Interview Notes)
- Item 22: Audio Tape Interview 5-17-1985- Penny McJunkin

- Item 23: Audio Tape Interview 5-17-1985- Penny McJunkin

- Item 24: Audio Tape Interview 5-17-1985- Penny McJunkin

- Item 25: Audio Tape Interview 1-20-[1986] - Mary Boewe

- Box 26

- Item 1: Audio Tape Notes: Meadville - Ida Tarbell correspondence

- Item 2: Audio Tape Notes: Meadville - Ida Tarbell correspondence, Beveridge & Angle

- Item 3: Audio Tape Notes: Library of Congress - Beveridge collection

- Item 4: Audio Tape Notes: Library of Congress - Beveridge collection

- Item 5: Audio Tape Notes: Illinois State Historical Library - John F. Iglehart Papers

- Item 6: Audio Tape Notes: University of Illinois - Barton, Sandburg

- Item 7: Audio Tape Notes: Indiana University

- Item 8: Audio Tape Notes: Indiana University / University of Illinois

- Item 9: Audio Tape Notes: Illinois State Historical Library / Minor affair, Atlantic Monthly file

- Item 10: Audio Tape Notes: Chicago Historical Society

- Item 11: Audio Tape Notes: [no location] - Townsend Collection

- Item 12: Audio Tape Notes: [no location] - Townsend Collection

- Item 13: Audio Tape Notes: University of Chicago - W.E. Barton /Carl Sandburg - television show

- Item 14: Audio Tape Notes: University of Chicago - Microfilm, W. E. Barton Papers

- Item 15: Audio Tape Notes: University of Chicago - Microfilm, W. E. Barton Papers

- Item 16: Audio Tape Notes: University of Illinois - Barrett, Tarbell, Rothschild

- Item 17: Audio Tape Notes: Indiana University - Bobbs Merrill collection / Townsend correspondence

- Item 18: Audio Tape Notes: Indiana University - Bobbs Merrill collection

- Item 19: Audio Tape Notes: Indiana University - Bobbs Merrill collection

- Item 20: Audio Tape Notes: [Unknown]
